Judgement Advice...

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone!  Hopefully I can make this story short!  I had a credit card back in 2000 that I defaulted on and it was charged off to be picked up by a debt collector.  I received papers on this about a year ago (at 9:00 at night none the less) that I should appear in court to have this settled.  I was in shock!  I figured this was done and settled years ago.  Not knowing about SOL and anything like that, I didn't go to the hearing and they soon started garnishing my wages.  CL on original card was $500, and I now owe almost $3000 on this.  I get a call last night (8:00) from the law firm that put a judgement against me for this saying they don't want to garnish my wages anymore and want to work something out.   They are calling me today to get this taken care of.  Do I ask them to drop it down to a certain amount and I'll pay it?  Any chance after I do this that they can remove the judgement from my report?  I'm assuming since I didn't show up in court when I should have that I am liable for this even after the SOL?  I'm just not sure what to tell them when they call?  Thanks so much in advance!

[Anonymous]

What do you mean you figured this was done and settled years ago?

Once they got the judgment, the SOL on the original CC no matters.  It is the SOL on the judgment that is effective now.  Yes, you are still liable for it.

If they are willing to accept a settlement I would do that if they say it satisifies the judgment and you will no longer be obligated to pay the remainder.  Just get it in writing.

Once it is paid it will be up to the people that put it on there to remove it.

[Anonymous]

I guess since I never heard anything on this charge off for 8 years, I just assumed it was done with.

[Anonymous]

Just because something is charged off does not mean it is done with or that you do not owe the money. 

Last year when you got the court papers, the account was more than likely beyond SOL.  If you had shown up in court and given expired SOL as a defense, the suit would have been dropped.

But, that is water under the bridge. 

See what they want to do as far as clearing it up. If they offer a settlement, get it in writing that it satisfies the debt and they will not come after you for the difference.  Also see if they will have it removed from your CR and not just updated to satisfied.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I wish I would have shown up at the hearing.  Thanks for your advice guiness!

[MOMO30]

OK let me ask you this I have a judgment from a repo I was never served any paper's it shows up on my experian only and my wages are being garnished I live in nys how can I go about this can it be deleted (the judgment)

[Anonymous]

MOMO30--see my post on the other thread in rebuilding in response to this same question

Once you've posted a question, no need to post the same question in other threads.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=rebuildingcredit&thread.id=76884

Message Edited by jesslyn on 08-03-2009 01:21 PM

[Anonymous]

The problem is, SOL doesn't matter anymore because they got a judgment. So get that out of your head. Most states if someone has a judgment against you, its good for 10 years and all a collector has to do is go back to court, say you never paid it and bam its on your report for ANOTHER 10 years, and could be with you for LIFE.

Second problem, INTEREST...you are being charged interest by the state, for every DAY its not paid off. You are actually lucky that they aren't coming after you for the interest as well. You NEED to settle this before it gets really ugly. I would setlle for the originial amount of the debt, and make a payment plan. Agree that once it is paid off that the law firm will have the item removed from your report. Get all of it done in writing first. But this is more severe then not just paying off your credit card and it dropping off your CR.

[Anonymous]

arrgy42 wrote:  The problem is, SOL doesn't matter anymore because they got a judgment. So get that out of your head.

Those kinds of comments are not necessary.

It has already been mentioned that the SOL on the account no longer matters since there is a judgment.

Paid and unpaid judgments stay for 7 years.  The judgment SOL is how long they have to collect, which can be renewed.

The only judgments that stay longer are unpaid tax liens, which can stay forever.

Message Edited by guiness56 on 08-07-2009 12:04 AM

[Anonymous]

what are you the nice police?

The judgment can stay forever if, depending on the state,  you keep going back to court and getting the judgment renewed. Most states all this, some states only allow you to renew a judgment once or twice. However, once the judgment is renewed, the court notifies the credit agencies. I know of one person who has had a judgment on their CR for 24 years, because he refuses to pay it. Not to mention the fact that he owes all the interest.

Dont listen to the poster, according to law:

The Fair Credit Reporting Act [15 USC Section 1681c]

(a)Information excluded from consumer reports...

(2)...civil judgments...that from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period.

so it depends on your state! If your state is Ohio, the reporting period can be 21 years! The key part of that law is, whichever is the longer period.